Senior Surgery Honors Course

The goal of the Senior Honors Course in Surgery is to provide senior medical students an in-depth experience in general surgery and a surgical specialty. This is a capstone course that is specifically designed for those students who are interested in pursuing a career in general surgery or a surgical specialty. This is accomplished through an eight-week multi-dimensional program that includes a four-week acting internship in general surgery and a four-week specialty surgery rotation. This course includes direct patient care, small group faculty-led didactic sessions, and surgical skills training.

Responsibilities

1. The student will serve for four weeks as an Acting Intern on one of the principal general surgery services at the UAMS Medical Center, John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital, or Arkansas Children’s Hospital. During this rotation, the students will have the supervised responsibilities equivalent to that of a surgical intern. The students will participate in the care of a limited number of patients under the direct supervision of senior residents and surgical faculty. This rotation will include both inpatient and outpatient experiences as well as elective and emergency surgical services. The students will take call on a rotating basis similar to junior house officers.
2. The student will serve for four weeks on a specialty surgery service (pediatric surgery, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic, plastics, breast oncology, surgical oncology, pediatric cardiac surgery, burn surgery, surgical critical care, trauma surgery, and transplant surgery). The students will be directly involved in the care of a limited number of patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. The students will take call on a rotating basis similar to junior house officers.
3. The students will each give a 30-45 minute seminar on a topic in surgery approved by the course director. The topic must consist of a detailed discussion of the pathophysiology of a surgical disease.
4. The students will participate in weekly didactic and skills sessions with the general surgery residents designed to facilitate the student’s transition to their residency.
5. The students will attend and participate in the educational activities of the Department of Surgery which includes Morbidity & Mortality conference and Grand Rounds.
6. Enrollment in this course requires the approval of the course director.The students will attend and participate in the educational activities of the Department of Surgery.
7. This course is two blocks in duration and can only be taken during blocks 3 & 4.
8. Longitudinal electives are not permitted during this rotation.